Dolly Parton’s manager drops harassment lawsuit against her nephew

Dolly Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, has dropped a lawsuit against the late star’s nephew, Bryan Seaver.

Nozell previously alleged her nephew and former security head had attempted to strong-arm Parton’s estate after she died. That complaint was dropped on Thursday (5 November).

The lawsuit was against Seaver, son of Parton’s sister Cassie. Nozell and his lawyers also alleged Parton’s nephew posed a threat to her business empire following her passing. 

This week, they abandoned the claims without prejudice. This means they could bring them forward again in the future.

A court filing from a day earlier said the two sides had reached an agreement. However, that also gave no further details, the Guardian reported. 

This filing came just before Novell’s deadline to respond to Seaver’s denials of the allegations. The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday (10 November). The hearing had already been pushed back several times.

In September, She’s Alive, the entity founded to manage and protect Parton’s estate, terminated the services of Seaver and his security company, Squadron Augmented Protection Services.

Seaver was the family member who announced Parton’s death in a prerecorded video posted to her Instagram account.

Nozell, who worked with Parton for around two decades, is the sole manager of She’s Alive. The company oversees the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee and the SongTeller hotel in Nashville.

Then, She’s Alive secured a temporary restraining order against Seaver and SAPS.

The restraining order petition detailed that Seaver made threats and aimed them directly at She’s Alive’s “personnel, counsel, and business partners. In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand.’”

At the time, Seaver reportedly put a “no-trespassing sign in the front yard and barbed wire draped across the handrails leading to the front door.

“Mr Seaver attempted to evade service of process, and this court should not reward that behaviour,” the court filing states.

Billboard reported that the lawsuit alleged: “These were not ordinary workplace disputes or heated words; they were deliberate threats from a self-proclaimed heavily armed, former security operative with a military-contractor background.

“Many of [Parton’s staff members] are now afraid to come to work or have resigned entirely because they do not feel safe.”

In his responding court filings, Seaver said he considered Nozell a close friend and ally before Nozell took out the restraining order.

This exposes a continued rift in Parton‘s inner circle. Though Nozell may have dismissed the allegations against Seaver, the case could very well be revisited. 

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